Charlie Omer prepares his car to run to A1 Tax Services “to pay the Tax Man,” Monday morning, March 3, 2014.
Snow and ice hampered the tri-state, closing schools and some businesses.

The Gleaner

The good news is that meteorologists are not calling for any major precipitation the rest of the week.

The bad news is that the below freezing temperatures mean the eighth of inch of ice and two to three inches of sleet and snow that fell in Henderson Sunday will likely linger for a few more days, said meteorologist Greg Meffert with the National Weather Service in Paducah. Temperatures should nudge above freezing Wednesday afternoon and continue to warm up gradually through the weekend.

"This is very rare for ice and sleet to occur in March," said Meffert. "Usually we get a deep snow and that will disappear in a day or so. It's been a very unusual winter."

This climatological winter — which includes the months of December, January and February — will probably rank in the top 10 coldest winters on record for the Tri-state area, Meffert said.

The latest wintry mix made traveling hazardous and led to another round of school cancellations in Henderson, Union and Webster counties.

For the 14th time this school year, Henderson County Schools will not be in class Tuesday due to hazardous winter. Child care at East Heights Elementary, Bend Gate Elementary and the Thelma B. Johnson Early Learning Center will be open Tuesday after being closed on Monday along with the rest of the school system.

As of the latest adjusted calendar, students will finish classes May 22. The two additional days missed would push that back to May 26 — three days after Henderson County High School students are scheduled to graduate at the Ford Center. But graduation can't take place before school is out, so that means more changes are on the way for the Henderson school calendar.

Webster County Schools, Union County Public Schools and Murray State regional campus will also not be in class again Tuesday. Henderson Community College's campus was closed Monday and so was the Henderson County Courthouse.

Officials had warned people to keep off the roads unless travel was necessary.

"I think a lot of people have heeded the advice," said Trooper Corey King with Kentucky State Police. "I also think a lot of people this year have gotten better at navigating on the ice."

Of the motorists King saw on the road, most were driving slowly and carefully. It appears the cautious tactics paid off since there were fewer wrecks reported.

State police with Henderson Post 16 worked eight slide offs, four noninjury wrecks and one injury wreck that occurred along the Audubon Parkway in Henderson.

Henderson Police Department worked one injury accident, five noninjury wrecks and assisted five motorists. Henderson Sheriff's Department worked one injury accident, four noninjury wrecks and assisted nine motorists.

As of midafternoon Monday, the sunshine and the salt applied by street crews had Henderson's main roads in pretty good condition aside from some slick spots. The secondary streets will hopefully be clear by Tuesday afternoon, said city of Henderson Street Superintendent J.R. Stanley.

County roads appeared "awfully good" by afternoon Monday, especially compared to at daybreak, said Kerry Dame, who added his crews began applying a salt and sand mixture at 4 a.m. to help improve travel conditions.

"The roads that the sun is hitting where we have plowed and got some salt on them are looking very good," he said. "The shaded areas where we plowed are still slick and will probably refreeze overnight."